I read
your answer to my question. Thank you. I am the
Mormon. Maybe you have become overwhelmed with the sorrows of sinfulness but
nothing human is all good or all bad I have found. Would Jesus the shepherd
see the lost sheep as an unworthy sheep for wandering off? If Jesus thought
so he might scold the sheep without loving him and caring for his wounds. Maybe
then Jesus would give up and leave the sheep there to die lost in his pain.
Maybe the sheep needs many lessons of love from Jesus so he will not keep wandering
off away from the shepherd. The real love you write about is in loving service to
sinners with a gentle heart. Then the lost sheep would be taken back to the
flock in the arms of the joyful shepherd before he dies of his wounds. That
is what draws me to the Catholic religion.
 ou’re welcome. And I fully
agree with what you say about the sheep and their need for lessons of
love.
In reading between the lines,
though, I can tell that you yourself have suffered considerable abuse as
a child, but that you have not yet healed from
it. To help you here, let’s consider the function of a
shepherd.
A shepherd loves his sheep, yes,
but he does not just say to them, “Anything goes. Do what you want.”
No. The shepherd—at least, a good shepherd—has to establish boundaries
and set rules for the flock’s movements. If he doesn’t, the sheep
will be scattered everywhere and all the sheep will be lost
sheep.
In a similar way, the Church
has its laws and regulations and traditions.
These aren’t just dry, empty rules that stifle love. The Church
doesn’t speak about sin to scold you; it speaks
about sin to save you from your own self-destruction.
Church laws are the protection necessary for love to grow and flourish. You
already know this deep in your heart. You know that when your parents
failed as parents and did what they wanted
to your emotions and to your body, your soul was crushed. You became a lost
sheep.
Now, your experience as a child
is not uncommon today, and, as more and more lost sheep grow up and
raise their own lost sheep, everything is getting worse, and lost sheep are
becoming the norm.
Nevertheless, good shepherds
are trying to find and save the lost sheep.
The problems start, however,
when the lost sheep, all because of their anger
at their parents’ hypocrisy, decide to
talk back to the shepherds. Some of them say,
“We don’t believe in wolves, so we’re happy where we are.
We like it here, on our own, with no one to tell us what to do.” Then
there are those who say, “We’re sick of being chased by the dogs.
Let us take care of ourselves; we can live by our own reason. We have science
and technology to protect us. We don’t need dogs barking at us all the
time.” These are the ones in danger of being lost forever, devoured
by the wolves of hell.
So what can be done for them?
All we can do is live the truth through
sacrifice, obedience, and prayer as an example
to them, and hope some of them will listen. And we must always
pray for all the lost souls in danger of
hell who have no one to pray for them.
If you decide to convert, then
you really can start fresh and have your wounds cleansed. Because the Catholic
Church does not recognize Mormon baptism as a Christian baptism, however,
you will be baptized into a new life. Then it
will be up to you whether you stay clean and pure in the arms of the joyful
shepherd or whether you wander off from the flock to find your happiness
in a world that wants only unconditional acceptance
of anything.
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